Junior midfielder Ella Bosholm brings the ball up the field, while trying to find a Park teammate on the field. The Wolfpack fell to the Woodbury Royals 1-0 on Tuesday night. Brian Mozey / RiverTown Multimedia 4 / 4

Saturday night

Hastings 2, Park 0

The Wolfpack were shutout on Saturday as Hastings won 2-0 and dropped Park’s record down to 2-11 on the season.

Park has three more games left on the regular season and all of them are next week. The next game will be at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at Mounds View.

Then, the Wolfpack will be home for the last two games on Thursday and Saturday next week.

South St. Paul 5, New Life Academy 0

The game was tied 0-0 at the half, but South St. Paul came out firing in the second half with five goals. The Eagles fell 5-0 on Saturday bringing their record to 7-6-1 on the season.

New Life will play two more games this regular season starting on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 4:15 p.m. against Trinity.

Friday night

Forest Lake 1, Park 0

It was another tough, close loss for the Wolfpack as they lose 1-0 to Forest Lake on Friday night. It's the third game this week that Park has lost 1-0 to its opponent.

Park will hope to change its luck on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 3 p.m. against Hastings.

Thursday night

East Ridge 1, Park 0

East Ridge players and coaches have agreed that the last third of a game has been a struggle to score for the Raptors lately.

That pattern continued against Park on Thursday night has East Ridge had many opportunities to put a couple ball in the net and take a strong lead late in the second half, but the ball either missed or hit off the goal post or there was a nice save by Park's goalie.

The Raptors were still able to hold onto a 1-0 win over rival Park, but head coach Tim Bunnell knows there's need to be some changes in that last third scoring.

"We had some great looks to get another goal and put this game out of reach," Bunnell said. "We weren't able to capitalize on them, but I'm glad we came out with the win."

The one and only goal came from junior midfielder Madison Majewski with the assist coming from senior midfielder Anne Larsen. That goal though came four minutes into the start of the game, so the East Ridge defense kept that lead all night long.

The Park defense did the exact same as they only allowed one goal to get through the entire game. The Wolfpack played a defensive approach often in the first half as East Ridge kept control of the ball the majority of the first half.

"We've been clicking really well the last few games," said senior defender Delaney Goertzen. "We just hope it continues to keep building in these last couple weeks before section play."

Park's co-head coach Sarah Neitz said she was happy with the girls' effort on Thursday night against a top rated team in East Ridge. Even with the loss, she's hoping this game will build some confidence for the Wolfpack as they head into an important couple of weeks before section play.

For Park, it's about perfecting some of the skills the team has been developing throughout the season and making them ready for the important tournament in the middle of October.

"It's great to see us competing closely with East Ridge, who has a great program," Neitz said. "If you take out the first four minutes of the game, it's a tie game."

Park will have a busy couple of days as Forest Lake will come to Cottage Grove on Friday, Sept. 28 and the Wolfpack will host Hastings on Saturday, Sept. 29.

East Ridge will have a break after a busy week of games and its next game is on Tuesday, Oct. 2 as the Raptors travel to Cretin-Derham Hall.

New Life Academy 2, Southwest Christian 0

The Eagles traveled to Park High School for Thursday night's game against Southwest Christian. It was a shutout on senior night for New Life and a good win for the Eagles as they head into their last week of games.

New Life will be on the road for the last three games of the regular season starting with a game at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29 against South St. Paul.

Tuesday night

Woodbury 1, Park 0

When senior attacker Mandy Elton was helped off the field and placed in a cart with an ankle injury, Park co-head coach Stacy Paleen knew it was going to be a battle.

Not only were the Wolfpack down a starter, but they were up against one of their biggest rivals in Woodbury on Tuesday night. The Royals led 1-0 at the half and it stated that score until the final horn sounded. It was a close match and that's what each coach was expecting with the rivalry.

"It's always been a close game with Park," said Woodbury co-head coach Pat Malicki. "They always play us tough and are well coached."

Since there wasn't much offense in the game with only one goal between the two teams, the defense became the focus for both teams. Woodbury has only allowed two goals this entire season with one goal being scored by Andover and the other from East Ridge.

The rest of the games have been shutouts and senior Maddie Felton is proud of that result.

"It's always a confidence boost when you can shut out a team for an entire game," Felton said. "We've been able to do that often this season and it just shows that our team has some discipline when protecting the ball."

As for the Wolfpack, they were happy with how they attacked and fought for the ball. Senior Abby Tapanila said that the record doesn't show how much work they've put into practices and games. She knows something will click soon and that will help the team prepare for the last few weeks of the season and build momentum heading into section play in mid-October.

"I've seen a lot of growth since the beginning of this season," Tapanila said. "And it's been fun seeing that show on the field with all of us."

Woodbury is focusing on scoring more goals and attacking hard to find the open players for shots on goal. On Tuesday night, the Royals scored one goal and last Thursday they tied Stillwater at 0-0.

Malicki said that if the Royals can put a couple more goals in the net and also keep this strong defense, it'll help during section play.

Both teams are eyeing a strong finish to the season with the hope that the confidence and momentum will translate into wins at the section tournament.

"We have to be playing our best soccer at the end of the season," Paleen said.

New Life Academy 3, Maranatha/West Lutheran 0

It was the Eagles' second game in a row this week after winning 3-0 over St. Croix Prep on Monday night. The game was tied at 0-0 on Tuesday night at the half, but New Life came out and scored three goals to give the Eagles a 3-0 final score and a win.

This homecoming week will be a busy one for the New Life girls soccer team as they host Southwest Christian at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27 at Park High School. Then, the Eagles wrap up their week as they travel to South St. Paul at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29.

Stillwater 2, East Ridge 0

The Raptors faced a 2-0 deficit at the half on Tuesday night against Stillwater and they weren't able to come back as the final score was 2-0. The loss dropped their record to 9-2-1 on the season.

East Ridge will be hosting its rival from down the road as Park comes to the Nest at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27. The Raptors look to stay on top of the conference standings as they seek a win over the Wolfpack on Thursday.

Monday night

East Ridge 1, White Bear Lake 0

It was a scoreless game between East Ridge and White Bear Lake at halftime on Monday night, but the Raptors scored one goal in the second half to take the lead and, eventually, the win. The goal came from Mackenzie Werner.

This is the fourth shut out of the season for the Raptors and they will look to keep that momentum going into Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. as East Ridge hosts Stillwater for a conference game.

New Life Academy 3, St. Croix Prep 0

The Eagles started their busy week with a win over a conference rival St. Croix Prep with a 3-0 final score. The win brings their record up to 5-5-1 on the season with three more games to play this week.

New Life will host Maranatha/West Lutheran at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 25.

I am the sports writer for the Woodbury Bulletin and South Washington County Bulletin. I'm a graduate from the Greenlee School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Iowa State University and have always had a passion for sports since a young age. Whether it was watching or playing sports, I always knew sports would be in my career. I've been born and raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis and look forward to continuing to learn more about the Woodbury and Cottage Grove area throughout my time in this position.